WHO ARE THOSE GUYS?

Steve Gio - Bass, Vocals

At the age of 16, Steve started playing bass in the clubs on the well-known strip of Bleecker Street with New York fixtures David Peel, June Dafgard, Terry Mann, and the late Motor City James. Steve also backed up legendary musicians like Buzzy Linhardt, Tuli Kupferberg, Maruga Booker (John Lee Hooker), Steve Martin (The Left Banke) and Les Braunstein (Blue Oyster Cult).

In the 1980s Steve formed his own band, Teenage Furniture, and played Max's, CBGB, Great Gildersleeves, Trax, and other popular NYC clubs of the day. His next band, One Plus One, had only two members, so Steve combined his electronics skills with his musical talent to create a new sound. One Plus One received many favorable reviews, including in Musician magazine.

Steve played with Joy Ryder and Valerie and the Vikabillies on recordings produced by Popa Chubby and Genya Ravan, and soon after formed Hired Guns with Tiny Rhino drummer George Schaefer. As a rhythm section, they shared stages with many music legends including Wishbone Ash, Savoy Brown, Ray Manzarek (The Doors), Peter Tork, Samantha Fish, Devon Allman, Maria Muldaur, Buffy Saint Marie, Chris Hillman, Pinetop Perkins, Hubert Sumlin, Tinsley Ellis, Al Stewart, and Ian McLagan. Steve has also jammed with Ace Frehley but has not heard from him lately. Steve continues to write and record electronic music and plans are in the works to release a retrospective album soon.

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Mighty George Schaefer - Drums

George started playing drums in grade school. He continued pounding the skins through high school, then set his sticks down and tried to start a “real” career. After a few years in the working world, he realized that the music never left him, so he hooked up with the New Jersey rock and blues band Shoot From the Hip. From there he moved on to the drum chair in the band Phoenix.

After meeting Steve Giordano at an audition, they formed Hired Guns and became a preeminent rhythm section, sharing stages with the artists listed above, and more. George also gigged regularly with NJ club stalwarts the Smokin’ Alternators, the Paul Gargiulo Band, the JRK Project, and the Uptown Boogie Band. Currently, George teaches drums in Oakland, NJ, paying it forward to create a new generation of rockers.

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Mark Westin - Guitar, Vocals

Mark is Tiny Rhino’s principal songwriter. He started his professional music career as a teenager, touring as a banjo player in a bluegrass band. He quickly discovered that the cool girls liked rock bands more than bluegrass, so he made the switch to guitar and soon became a mercenary sideman, backing up countless artists on the New York club scene in the 1980s. It was there that he met Tiny Rhino bassist Steve Giordano when they played together in Teenage Furniture.

As a solo artist, Mark has performed across the U.S., in Canada and the United Kingdom, sharing stages along the way with artists including Fishbone, Jon Herington (Steely Dan), The Klezmatics, Men Without Hats, the late Joey Ramone and Johnny Thunders, and The Waitresses. He's beloved by bikers and old ladies alike, and there's a small cult devoted to him on the Belgium-France border.

Mark has has released four albums of original songs - the latest, Tales, in April 2023 - and six EPs. He also leads ReBurt, an 8-piece group performing fresh versions of classic songs by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, and hosts SongSmith, a streaming video series featuring original songwriters in performance and conversation. Mark is in demand as a sideman as well, and currently holds the guitar chairs in the touring bands of Norwegian power pop chanteuse Vibeke Saugestad and roots rocker Stephen Clair.